Shiplate Farm Main Lake (Silvers Only).

I was really looking forward to today, Rob Downton was running a silvers only match on the main lake with 14 fishing. With the venue on my doorstep I've recently had chance to spend a day or to up here pleasure fishing for silvers with good results & with the weather warming slightly with overcast skies I expected a few fish to be caught? The lovely wife made as a few sausage sarnies at home before we both arrived in plenty of time before the 8.30 draw. Last time I was on this lake I let her draw for me & was more than happy with peg 1 as it can be good for carp but I didn't really fancy it for silvers today, hoping for a draw on the far side with the wind off are backs. When it was time for the draw I let her do the honours again, she was into the draw early & handed me the lucky ticket' Peg 1"! Owe well it is what it is".

I was really hoping to draw a peg to fish the waggler further out into the lake as I've found this is where the better size skimmers seemed to hang out, the problem was I had to cast some distance to be able to see the float in the shadow of the far bank trees but with the wind in my direction it would be difficult to feed?

(I took these after the match).

  I did feed a silvers line last time I was on this peg at 14mts but only caught a few small roach, I didn't have any casters that day so this time around I planned to fish the same line with casters & groundbait as I had more than a pint from last week, Rig wise I used a 4x14 Wire wonder on 0.13-0.09 & an 18 F1 maggot hook, Pluming around I found the more I went to my right the shallower it got at 13mts I found a line around 6"inches shallower so opted for a lighter 4x12 wire wonder on the same line/hook but would base this line on soft pellets over micros.

At the all-in I fed three balls at 14mts with G/bait with casters & a few red maggots added, Fed a handful of micros on the 13mt line, And fed a ball of G/Bait at  with pinkies at 10mts off to my left in-case things were really  hard'.

I began the day feeding a few casters towards the island which shallows right up into inches of water & began the day on single red maggot casting toward the pegs opposite & feeding hard 4mm pellet as far as I could, In the first 30mins minutes I managed a few small roach to 3oz until I hooked & landed a near 8lb common carp on 0.10 - an 18 hook' I carried on for another 15mins but with the wind swirling around I was having a job to see the float & was really struggling to feed it. I shallowed the rig up to around 2ft of so & decided to try near the island where I had been feeding a few casters when the wind allowed, Straight away I had a chub over a 1lb & in the next 30mins I added 4 more from 10oz - 1lb before I began to struggle for a bite, We were nearly two hours into the match & with just the odd roach added I reckoned on having around 5lb which seemed to be doing ok from what I could see. It was time to try the pole so starting at 14mts in the clear shadow of water towards the point of the island with single red maggot I was quite surprized when I had a 8oz skimmers as soon as it settled soon followed with a fish over 1lb'

I had another couple of smaller size skimmers before catching a small roach which told me it was time for a re-feed, Another ball was added with a few red maggots & some casters before I tried the 13mt line with soft pellet on the hook.

I had a skimmers around 3oz in ten minutes so this wasn't to productive but I fed it again with another handful of micros but this time added a few hard 4mms. I had another go across to the island & did bump off another chub but then nothing. Back over the G/bait with caster on the hook I couldn't get a touch but maggot on the hook did produce a couple more 1lb skimmers & a run of fish between 6-10oz, As soon as I felt the peg was dying I fed another ball & continued to catch the odd fish until I felt it was time to re-feed then rest it.

I did try the shorter 10mt line & caught a 12oz hybrid before latching into small roach, Back at 14mts & another decent run of skimmers with single red maggot seeming to be the best bait, out of the blue I had a roach pushing 1lb closely followed by a perch pushing 2lb" A real nice bonus". We were fishing for six hours today but with a couple of hours remaining bites over the G/bait became hard to come by, As I looked around the lake those who were catching a few fish earlier had seemed to slow up? It was time to put my faith in the Micro line with expander on the hook but I had decided to feed further out at 14mts off to my right on the same 13mt line as the fish didn't seem happy to come closer, The swim had transformed as I had two fish over 1lb & a few more skimmers to 12oz in the space of 15mins" Again the minute I thought the peg was dying I re-fed a small amount of Micro's & 4mm's & let it settle again pinching the odd fish at 14mts on maggot before switching back to the pellet line. I ended up having a cracking days fishing finishing the day with around seven skimmers over a 1lb as well as plenty of smaller samples, The one bonus perch & the early chub to add to some chunky roach. I would be last to weigh today & estimated to have around 20lb but I concentrate more on putting fish in the net than getting my weight anywhere near right' When the scales arrived 17lb was the top weight & Jonny Page on peg 3 had 8lb odd so another quid from him' I was surprized to finish the day with 33lb odd for a comfortable win picking up £60 in the process, A really enjoyable days fishing, You really had to work out as to how much to feed & when, The lighter rig made all the difference in the end as the fish seemed to follow the bait down, If the rig had settled I wouldn't get bites'. I love days like this when you don't expect to much but can really make things count by changing things around, Come the end of the match I couldn't get a bite over the G/bait line with all my indications ending up on the soft pellet. A Real pleasing days fishing, All credit to owner Steve Oliver as this is one of the finest fishery's you can go to in perfect surroundings He's always on the go maintaining the place & anybody who fancy's a change from carp fishing should pay this place a visit for sure if you fancy some quality silver fishing. 

 

Full results -

1st Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 1, 33lb 12oz.

2nd Rob Downton peg 12, 17lb 9oz.

3rd Phil Deakin, peg 14, 16lb 10oz.

4th John Dursley (Enterprize Angling), peg 14b. 14lb.

5th Keith, Peg 4, 13lb 13oz.

6th Martin, peg 11, 11lb 10oz.